El Tri 'trying,' but leaves Q only tying Guatemala

Guatemala's Cristian Noriega (left) is clipped as he and Mexico's Efrain Juarez (22) chase after the ball in the second half of friendly at Qualcomm. El Tri is 17-1-6 against its neighbor to the southeast. (Sean M. Haffey / Union-Tribune)

Guatemala's Cristian Noriega (left) is clipped as he and Mexico's Efrain Juarez (22) chase after the ball in the second half of friendly at Qualcomm. El Tri is 17-1-6 against its neighbor to the southeast. (Sean M. Haffey / Union-Tribune)

First they watched the United States, their bitter rival and opponent in the oh-so-crucial World Cup qualifier on Aug. 12, play well and nearly beat Brazil yesterday in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Then they drove to Mission Valley and watched their beloved El Tri play Guatemala to a 0-0 tie at Qualcomm Stadium.

It was a sentiment shared by the 30,624 at the Q, which booed Mexico at halftime and again at the final whistle. The thinking: If it can't beat Guatemala, a team long since eliminated from World Cup qualifying, a team it used to regularly trounce, how is it supposed to beat the Americans?

“Everybody can draw their own conclusions,” Aguirre said. “They can think whatever they want. They can worry or not. It doesn't bother me . . . I'm going to keep working.”

Aguirre used the game as preparation for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, the region's biennial championship, and started an almost completely different lineup from the encouraging 4-0 win against Venezuela in Atlanta on Wednesday.

That meant midfielders Gerardo Torrado and Giovani Dos Santos didn't play at all, and forward Carlos Vela appeared only the last five minutes.

Mexico managed to control the bulk of possession and thwarted Guatemala's only real scoring chance, a first-half shot by Transito Montepeque that goalkeeper Jose de Jesus Corona charged off his line to smother. The shots were 12-1, Mexico. The corner kicks were 11-1, Mexico.

“We would have like to have a goal for the fans,” he said. “Too bad their goalkeeper made great saves.”

That was Ricardo Trigueno, a 29-year-old veteran from a modest club (Deportivo Petapa) that has never won the Guatemalan championship. He finished with eight saves yesterday, including three point-blank stops against Alberto Medina in a two-minute sequence in the second half.

Said Guatemalan coach Antonio Garcia of Mexico: “They were desperate.”

The crowd – the smallest for a Mexico game at the Q in nine years – was a function of the depressed state of the economy, no doubt. The depressed state of El Tri probably had something to do with it, too.

The team will stay in San Diego until Friday, then fly to Oakland for its Gold Cup opener Sunday against Nicaragua.

The game on everyone's mind, though, is Aug. 12 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. That's when El Tri hosts the Americans in a qualifier that ultimately could decide its World Cup fate.

“We know it's going to be a tough game,” Torrado said, “but we're going to be prepared to play against them. People can be worried, but we are working hard. We are practicing day by day, trying to get better.